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Supervisor's Guide

The purpose of this program is to provide students with part-time employment opportunities for those who have been awarded work-study funding. There are a variety of reasons students may have the desire to work: to help finance their education, to cover personal expenses, to gain valuable and satisfying work experience and to develop time management, research, library, computer, or communication skills. A portion of student wages are paid from the work-study program funds and a portion by Claremont McKenna College. Therefore, the Office of Financial Aid places accountability upon the work-study supervisor for participation in the program, including the hiring of the student, approving time sheets, etc.

Verify with the Office of Financial Aid that a student is work-study eligible, and has been awarded work-study funds.

Make sure you have updated the job description with Handshake. Job descriptions are provided by the supervisor and necessary in order to be in compliance with federal regulations and to continue to receive annual funding. Do not forfeit this opportunity to receive federal funding.

Have the student submit the appropriate forms as detailed below.

Submit a Personnel Action Form (PAF) for every student you hire to Griselda Jerez in Human Resources each academic year. The department supervisor who signs the PAF must be the same person who will approve the student's time sheet.

First-Time Work-Study Students

A student who has never worked at CMC and needs to complete a New Hire Packet. The student can obtain this paperwork from the Payroll department. The packet includes: I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification; W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate; and DE4, State of California Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate.

I-9 Form: The Immigration and Reform Act of 1986 requires each employee to provide documentation that verifies the employee's identity and eligibility to work. The student is required to submit documentation when filling out the form. As required by law, all documents must be original and unexpired.

W-4 & DE4 Forms: Federal Work-Study earnings are taxable income and subject to federal and state taxes. Students are exempt from FICA taxes during the academic year (ex: Social Security, State Disability and Medicare). All students must have a valid Social Security number.

Returning Work-Study Students

A returning student must complete an updated Hiring Packet.

The Office of Financial Aid will provide you with confirmation that the student has an award through the work-study program. Financial Aid will also provide the supervisor with the correct account number. Please match the account number to your department’s job code.

If you have any questions regarding the required paperwork, you may contact either Monica Diaz or Wendy Munoz in the Payroll Office.

The CMC Office of Financial Aid places certain expectations upon all supervisors who participate in the Federal Work-Study program. The supervisors must be willing to undertake the following responsibilities and perform the following duties:

Supervisors are responsible for providing accurate and current job descriptions for each FWS position available in their department on the Handshake database administrated by Career Services.

Supervisors are responsible for keeping an accurate daily account of hours worked by each student employee. It is a violation of the state & federal labor laws not to pay employees in a timely manner. Therefore, it is important that student hours are submitted online according to the CMC student payroll schedule.

It is strongly recommended that students work no more than 20 hours per week. Never submit hours worked with more than eight (8) hours recorded in one day or (40) hours in one week. It is required that students who work more than five (5) hours take at least a half-hour break. Additionally, a student cannot work more than six (6) consecutive days.

The supervisor is responsible for dealing directly with a student's work-related problems. Each student must be assigned to a supervisor who would be responsible for all communications relating to the student's job.

A supervisor who hires a Federal Work-Study student shares responsibility with the student to monitor her/his earnings.

It is the supervisor's responsibility to submit or instruct the student to submit the Personnel Action Form to Griselda Jerez in the Human Resources Office at least 24 hours before the start date of employment, unless other arrangements have been made.

Supervisors are accountable for the hours their students report under the Federal Work-Study Program. It is your responsibility to make sure that all hours are being reported correctly and accurately before approving the hours online.

It is a federal requirement to keep a record of all Federal Work-Study job descriptions available through CMC. It is therefore, the responsibility of the department supervisor to update the Handshake database with this information. This is necessary in order to comply with federal regulations and to continue to receive annual funding. The Office of Financial Aid is audited annually to ensure that these policies and procedures are being followed. Federal Work-Study supervisors are informed annually of this procedure by Charlene Kile in Career Services.

Every academic year there are generally two pay periods per month (see Payroll Schedules page). Checks will be placed in student mailboxes at Story House the Friday following the pay period end date, unless otherwise requested. Any problems with a paycheck should be discussed with your department supervisor first. You may direct inquiries to Monica Diaz if the problem is not able to be resolved by the supervisor.